Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of cooking appliances and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for locating a grate over cooking elements on a cooktop.
Description of the Related Art
A conventional gas cooking appliance incorporates a cooktop which is generally formed of either coated metal or glass. The cooktop is provided with various openings for receiving gas operated burners. More specifically, each gas burner projects through the cooktop and is either fixedly or loosely secured to the cooktop. U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,708 represents one known mounting arrangement for a gas burner on a cooktop. With gas burner arrangements of this type, at least one cooking area includes an associated gas burner arranged below a vessel support, such as a metal grate. The vessel support must have a surface for resting a cooking vessel, and feet for raising the support above the cooktop. The cooking vessel support must be arranged so that it is directly above the gas burner and relatively fixed in position, so that the energy transfer from the burner to the cooking vessel is optimized. Such a fixing arrangement is typically constituted by locating projections on the grate which mate with locating recesses provided on the cooktop. In this fashion, the grate can be lifted from the cooktop when desired and can only be properly seated in a specified manner to assure the desired efficient energy transfer.
Of course, use of such a cooking arrangement can create spills which need to be cleaned, typically after each use. However, the grates employed on gas cooktops tend to be fairly heavy and can be awkward to remove for cleaning. When a grate is removed for cleaning of a cooktop, the grate must be placed with care so as to not scratch or otherwise damage the surface upon which it is placed, such as adjacent countertop space. As the selective removal, temporary storing and repositioning of grates can create potential obstacles, it has been proposed to hingedly attach a grate to a cooktop, thereby enabling the grate to be pivoted between raised and lowered positions. As certain advantages can be attributed to both completely removable and hinged grate arrangements, the present invention provides a particular gas cooking grate mounting arrangement which provides for the grate to be selectively lifted completely off the cooktop or pivoted to a raised, out-of-the-way position.